Double Trouble

Journalists usually enjoy a medical disaster story and Monday's Mail Online is no exception. The poor unfortunate described is in the process of legal action against a surgeon in Slovakia for a less-than-stunning outcome. Details are sketchy, but the patient appears to have undergone more than one attempt at attempted reparation.

Objective analysis of the published photographs suggests what is known as a ‘double-bubble’ deformity. This is particularly clear on the profile view where the breast seems to comprise 2 parts: firstly, the widened base of the implant. Secondly, the original breast mound, which appears to sit on top and not be entirely harmonious. This tends to occur when the wrong technique has been undertaken. Another important point is that this patient may well have an element of tubular breast. This is a complex anatomical variant whereby the breast has not developed entirely normally. Surgical treatment is not easy and requires more experience than a standard ‘boob job’.

The article goes on to discuss pros and cons of ‘medical tourism’ and one certainly needs to think very carefully about the saving of a few pounds weighed against the post-operative care if things do not go entirely according to plan. It also makes a very important point – that of complications. Whilst neither patient nor surgeon wishes to have them, unfortunately they occur. It is true that better surgeons have fewer complications, but the onus is on the patient to find the best surgeon. This requires time and effort and is not easy given the sheer breadth of unsolicited information available. BAAPS (http://www.baaps.org.uk) has some introductory information and we were stimulated to bring together some of our accumulated experience of several thousand breasts in our Good Boob Bible (http://www.simplybetterbreasts.co.uk/good-boob-bible-book), which was written with the patient in mind.